Saving Michelle
by Pickles Nickels
Summary: After the virus was released, michelle survived, but she has become slightly insane. will the doctors be able to figure out what's wrong before she becomes a complete nutcase? FINALLY UPDATED!
1. Not Infected

Michelle looked anxiously out of the broken window of the hotel. There were shards of glass everywhere. The virus was leaking into the night air. NHS people were rushing to contain it. Nicole Duncan came up to her, in a biohazard suit.  
  
"Michelle, Tony asked me to look after you." Michelle sighed. There were still people to control.  
  
"I'm fine." She answered.  
  
"no you're not." Nicole grabbed her, she was surprisingly strong, and escorted her out of the hotel where they isolated her. Nicole began to give her some blood tests.  
  
"I'll be right back" she left the makeshift isolation 'room' just as Michelle's cell phone rang.  
  
"Dessler" she answered.  
  
"Michelle, it's Tony." There was silence for a few seconds. "I know there's not much time left for you. Gael told me about the acclerant. I just want to say-"he paused. She could hear his heavy breathing on the other line. She wanted to just hug him and tell him that everything was going to be allright. "I love you Michelle. I'm so sorry for being such an asshole" tears stung her eyes.  
  
"I love you too, Tony." She cried for a few minutes. Nicole had a look of disbelief on her face, as she looked into the scanner.  
  
"how are you feeling?" Tony asked.  
  
"I'm not symptomatic yet." She paused, noticing that Nicole was testing her blood a second time.  
  
"that's good." She heard a voice in the background. "listen sweetie, I have to go." He said, and hung up. nicole walked over.  
  
"Michelle, you don't have the virus." She gasped.  
  
"can I go back to CTU now?" she asked.  
  
"yes, you can. But the clothes you are wearing have traces of the virus on them. we need to burn those. You can borrow a pair of my scrubs"  
  
"thank you." Michelle responded. Ten minutes later she was driving back to CTU in a pair of slightly oversized scrubs and a sweatshirt. The ride took about fifteen minutes. She pulled into the parking lot. She saw a dark figure walking towards her. she put her hand on her gun, just in case.  
  
"Michelle!" the person called out. it was Jack. "don't you have the virus?" he asked, keeping a safe distance.  
  
"no, I wasn't affected." She said. Jack walked towards her, and gave her a quick hug.  
  
"you should go see Tony" he said. "he is almost completely inconsolable" she nodded and went inside of the building. She turned down an almost deserted corridor, to get to Tony's office quicker. She climbed up the stairs and walked straight to his office. He had his head in his arms. She pushed open the door. He looked up and gasped.  
  
"Michelle....... I-I thought that you had the virus"  
  
"no, I don't Nicole tested me and I don't" he ran over to her and squeezed her tightly. He buried his face in her hair. Chappelle opened the door, startling them.  
  
"what the hell is going on here?! Michelle, what do you think you're doing here? We're all going to get sick now!"  
  
"I don't have the virus. Nicole Duncan tested me and I'm normal."  
  
"thank god." Chappelle said, the second nicest thing that he had done all day for her. "um, I can take care of things here, if you two want to go home."  
  
"thank you sir." Said Tony.  
  
"no big." Chappelle answered. The two of them walked out of the office, holding hands.  
  
"is he on happy pills?" Michelle whispered as soon as they were in the garage.  
  
"probably" he answered. He opened the passenger side for Michelle, and then got in and started up the car. Michelle fell asleep on the way. Tony carried her into the house.  
  
****************2 weeks later*******************  
  
Michelle woke up with a start. her nose was running. She went to the bathroom to get a tissue. When she turned the light on, she screamed. There was blood gushing down her nose and out of her mouth. Tony came running.  
  
"what? What's wrong honey?"  
  
"I- I have the virus........my nose is bleeding. You must have it too....."  
  
"honey, you're fine." She looked in the mirror again. Her nose wasn't bleeding. "come on, let's get some hot chocolate, or something" he said, yawning. And wrapping his arms around her neck. She nodded and followed him to the kitchen. The next day, she woke up on the couch, curled up in Tony's lap.  
  
"you've been asleep for a while." He said.  
  
"yeah. Was I dreaming last night?"  
  
"you must have been. Are you okay now?" he asked. She nodded. Suddenly she jumped up from Tony's lap.  
  
"T-T-ony, I thought that Gael was dead" she had a look of horror on her face. she was pointing at the door.  
  
"Michelle, are you sure that you're okay? There's no one there." she closed her eyes for a second. when she opened them she breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"you're right, I must have had a nightmare last night." She sat back down. Tony couldn't shake the feeling that something more was wrong with her than a nightmare. 


	2. Michelle's hospital stay part 1

Saving Michelle  
Chapter 2.  
  
Michelle was sitting at her desk doing some paperwork, when Kim came over.  
  
"Michelle? Can I ask you a question?"  
  
"sure, Kim anything." Kim looked a little nervous.  
  
"my dad still has a problem with me dating Chase. And , um, well, Chase proposed to me." Michelle smiled.  
  
"Congratulations, sweetie." Kim giggled.  
  
"thank you. see, my dad still doesn't know. How am I supposed to tell him?" Michelle paused for a second. she looked at Kim, so happy to be marrying the man who she loved.  
  
"well, I really don't know. I can ask Tony to tell him for you." she trailed off. "Kim, your nose is bleeding." Kim touched her nose lightly. Michelle was hallucinating the whole thing.  
  
"um-Michelle, I'm-"  
  
"we need medical attention over here!" she called out.  
  
"Michelle, I'm fine! What's gotten into you?" Kim asked, concerned. Michelle felt the world spinning around her. she collapsed on to the ground. She woke up in the hospital a few hours later, Tony holding her hand tightly. He kissed her cheek the second she woke up.  
  
"are you okay? What happened?" he asked.  
  
"I-I don't know. One second I was talking to Kim, and then her nose started bleeding, and I felt dizzy......."  
  
"Kim is fine." Tony said, playing with Michelle's hair. The doctor came in.  
  
"Mr. Almeida, can I talk to you for a second?" Tony nodded and followed the doctor out of the room. "Mr.Almeida, your wife is under a lot of stress. We suggest that she take a few weeks off from work."  
  
"but, she just came back form a vacation." Tony said, confused. "she can't go back so soon."  
  
"how long has she been back for?"  
  
"she just came back today."  
  
"well, keep her away from anything too stressful, for about a week or so." 


	3. Geri's house

A/N- thanks for the reviews!  
  
Tony leaned against a pole, trying to catch his breath. He had been looking for Michelle for fifteen minutes now. he finally decided to go back into the building, to see if she had gone there. he passed by Kim and Chase, talking about something. Kim was crying.  
  
"um, Kim, have you seen Michelle?" she shook her head.  
  
"didn't she leave with you?" Chase asked.  
  
"she was supposed to." Tony answered he went to his office, no one was there.  
  
"well that was a fast trip." He turned around. Jack was standing in the doorway. "lemme guess, you did 90 on the highway?"  
  
"no, when I went back to find Michelle, she wasn't there."  
  
"you're kidding me." Jack's smile disappeared. He uncrossed his arms and stepped further into the office.  
  
"Tony, I'm right here." Michelle appeared behind Jack.  
  
"where were you?"  
  
"I went back inside to find you, and you had already left. Sorry."  
  
"oh, well let's go then." He picked up his cell phone from his desk and started towards the garage. "Michelle, do me a favor, next time tell me that you're leaving."  
  
"okay, I will. Did you think I got kidnapped or something?" she said jokingly.  
  
"the possibility ran through my mind." She giggled. "it's not funny."  
  
"honey, we upgraded security measures. No one who's not an agent is going to get in here." They reached the car. Michelle dropped her purse on the ground. She stood completely still, staring into space.  
  
"Michelle?" Tony asked, leaning on the car door. "Michelle? Michelle, honey are you okay?" she shook her head.  
  
"yeah I'm fine. I just had a brain freeze." She bent over to pick up her purse. Tony opened the passenger side for her, and she got in.  
  
"are you sure you're okay?" he asked, once they'd gotten on the highway.  
  
"Tony, I'm fine, I just- I spaced out for a second, okay?" she sighed. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."  
  
"it's okay." He said. She turned on the CD player. Blink 182's 'Feeling This' blasted out of the speakers.  
  
"whoa. What in hell is this?"  
  
"oh god, that must be Rachel's CD." Rachel was Tony's 16 year old niece. "she was borrowing the car last weekend. She must have left it here."  
  
"it's actually a pretty good song." Michelle commented.  
  
"you don't mind if I stop off at her house to give it to her, do you?"  
  
"of course not." Tony got off at the next exit, and drove to the Santa Monica beach. Rachel lived in a large beach house. Suddenly Michelle screamed, causing Tony to slam on the brakes.  
  
"Michelle! What happened?" she was unconscious. He shook her and got no response. "oh shit." He groaned. He pulled into Rachel's driveway. An upstairs window opened and his sister, Geri stuck her head out.  
  
"who the hell are you? I have a sniper rifle, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Tony got out of the car.  
  
"Geri, it's me!"  
  
"Tony?" she ran downstairs, and opened the door. "why didn't you tell me you were coming? Rachel will be so happy." She ran over and embraced him.  
  
"I actually didn't know myself." He pulled away.  
  
"so, where's Michelle?"  
  
"um, she's in the car. I think she fainted, or hit her head when I slammed on the brakes." Geri's smile faded.  
  
"let's get her inside." Tony opened the door and unbuckled her seatbelt. He carried her into the house.  
  
"Uncle Tony!" Rachel yelled, and ran towards him. she stopped. "what's wrong with Aunt Michelle?"  
  
"I think she fainted."  
  
"put her on the couch." Geri said. Geri was a doctor. Tony gently laid Michelle down on the couch. "I'll be right back." She said.  
  
"so, how ya doin' Rachey?' he asked.  
  
"I'm fine." She smiled and gave him a big hug.  
  
"by the way, I have your CD in my car." he handed her the keys. "come right back" he said jokingly. She took the keys from him and ran out the front door. Geri came back with a bunch of supplies.  
  
"where did Rachel go?"  
  
"she went to get her CD form my car." Geri rolled her eyes and put a cold cloth on Michelle's head. 


	4. Chappelle's bitterness

A/N- sorry I haven't updated in a while I had serious writer's block. Anyway, the first part is from Michelle's POV when she's unconscious, so it's a little insane.  
  
Oh yeah and to sapphire-kitsune; MEOW! ************************************************************************  
  
I hit the floor hard. I raised my head up to see where I was. The whole place was dark. I could hear voices, calling out, moaning in pain. I stood up. suddenly the lights turned on, blinding me for a second. I was back in the hotel. People were on the floor around me, bleeding, reaching out for me, the only one who wasn't infected. Children were crying in pain. I felt tears come to my eyes. I thought to myself "so, it was all a dream, the last three weeks." I was going to die. I ran as fast as I could away from these people. I slammed into Gael. He was alive.  
  
"Gael, I thought you were dead." He grabbed my arm and started dragging me down a deserted hallway. I screamed. He put his hand over my mouth. I struggled against him. suddenly everything started to blend together, the world was spinning around me. Gael was gone. Instead there was an angry woman chasing me. The woman who's husband I'd killed. I started to run again, hoping that I could outrun her, but she was too fast. I tripped over something and fell into an endless hole. I kept falling, and screaming. ************************************************************************  
  
"Michelle!" I opened my eyes. I was lying on my sister-in law's couch, Tony sitting next to me and holding my hand. It had all been a dream. But it had seemed so real..........  
  
"Michelle, are you okay?"  
  
"I think so." She said weakly. The front door opened and Rachel walked into the living room.  
  
"hi aunt Michelle." She said.  
  
"hi Rachel." Rachel handed the car keys to Tony.  
  
"thanks." She said and ran up the stairs to her room.  
  
"do you guys want to stay over?" Geri asked. Tony nodded. "okay, I'll get the guest room ready." she left the room.  
  
"what happened?" Michelle asked.  
  
"I think you fainted. Why did you scream?"  
  
"I thought I saw Gael, and I got scared."  
  
"we should really get you checked out."  
  
"I'm fine, Tony." He sighed. She definitely was not fine, but he couldn't force her into a psyche evaluation.  
  
"whatever." He said. Rachel ran down the stairs and tripped over her shoelaces. "you okay?" he asked.  
  
"yeah. Wow I am such a klutz." She stood up. Geri came back into the room.  
  
"Rachel, are you okay?" she asked. Rachel nodded and sat in a chair facing Tony and Michelle. "do you guys want something to eat?"  
  
"sure." Tony said.  
  
"okay, I'll order a pizza." She went into the kitchen.  
  
"Pepperoni." Rachel yelled out. Geri came back in.  
  
"by the way, the room's ready."  
  
"thanks." Tony said. Michelle sat up.  
  
"I'm starving." She said. She pulled her scrunchie out of her hair.  
  
"20 minutes" Geri called out, just as Tony's cell phone began to ring.  
  
"Almeida" he answered.  
  
"Almeida, where the hell are you?" Chappelle yelled into the phone.  
  
"I had to take Michelle home."  
  
"you need to stop putting your wife before your job. Ms. Dessler can handle herself. Right now we need you on site."  
  
"Ryan, she's my wife. I care about her a lot."  
  
"yeah, but when you took this job, you knew you had to make sacrifices. Including family." Tony began getting really angry.  
  
"look, Ryan, I knew the risks. And I know that I should care about my job. But this job has cost me too much last time I went into the field I got shot. And my wife almost got killed. If you actually cared about your family you would know how that feels." Tony knew he had taken it too far, but he didn't care.  
  
"you know what Almeida, you're fired." Tony dropped the phone in surprise. Michelle reached down and handed it back to him, but Chappelle had hung up.  
  
"what happened?" she asked.  
  
"he fired me." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Chappelle walked into Jack's office. Jack was doing something on his computer.  
  
"Jack." he said. Jack looked up.  
  
"yeah?"  
  
"congratulations, you're the new director of CTU."  
  
"what?" he asked, surprised. "what happened to Tony?" Chappelle leaned against his desk.  
  
"I fired him." he said casually, as if he screwed up peoples lives every day.  
  
"look, Ryan, Tony's the best director we've ever had, I mean, look at me, I'm on methadone for christ's sake.give him his job back." He was standing now, and was getting very angry. Chappelle's casual attitude about the whole situation was pissing him off. "why did you fire him in the first place?"  
  
"he was being insolent and he left without telling anybody." Jack's anger was starting to scare him.  
  
"his wife was sick, he had to take her home. What can you expect? I've lost too many good agents already." Chappelle turned around as if to leave, but stayed in the same place.  
  
"I'll think about it." he said, and left. 


	5. Back to California

A/N- I'm twisting the Chappelle plot a little by killing him post day three. the lyrics are from Back to California by Sugarcult. Keep reviewing! ************************************************************************  
  
Tony was in his car, driving back to CTU. Michelle was still back at Geri's house. He had to get his job back. He sped up the car a little. CTU wasn't too far away, but he wanted to get there as fast as he could. He assumed that Jack would be taking over his job. Even if Chappelle wouldn't give him his job back, he knew that Jack would find him a position somewhere. No matter what people said about him, Jack was a nice guy. Tony had been his friend since he came to CTU LA. He looked down at his cell phone, hoping that Chappelle had changed his mind and was going to give him his job back, but he hadn't. he sighed as he puled into his usual parking space. He got out of the car and walked into the building. Chappelle was the first person he saw.  
  
"if you're looking for your job back, Mr. Almeida, the answer is no." he walked by Tony without saying another word. Tony kept walking on to find Jack. Jack was sitting in his office, staring at a bottle of the methadone pills that the program had given him. Tony cleared his throat and Jack looked up.  
  
"you should really take those, now that you're the head of CTU and all." Jack gave him a sad smile.  
  
"sorry about your job and all, but I'm still the head of field ops." He put the bottle down. Tony had a look of disbelief and confusion on his face.  
  
"what? I thought that Chappelle would automatically give the job to you."  
  
"he was, but given my current condition, I said no."  
  
"so who's the director now?" Jack paused for a second.  
  
"Chase" ************************************************************************  
Michelle was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a slice of lukewarm pizza. She wasn't really hungry anymore and she was worried about Tony. She finally put it down on the plate, unable to eat anymore.  
  
"Geri, I need you to take me back to CTU."  
  
"sure, just give me a sec, okay?" Michelle nodded and went into the bathroom to fix her hair. Everyone always said that she should wear her hair down, but she hated it. it always got in her way. She pulled it into a bun and went to go get her purse. Then she realized that it was in her car. she sat on the couch to wait for Geri.  
  
"Michelle are you ready?" she called out.  
  
"yeah." She said, and stood up. Geri came out of the kitchen and the two of them went into the garage. Michelle opened the passenger door on the mini van and got in. ************************************************************************  
  
"isn't Chase on vacation?" Tony asked.  
  
"he was. Until now." Jack's phone rang. he picked it up. "Bauer. Hi Chase. When will you be in?" he paused for a second and wrote something down "see you later." He hung up. "Chase is coming back tonight, so you can talk to him tomorrow." Tony nodded and left. He started towards the garage, but turned back to get some stuff from his office. As usual, it was a mess. There were papers all over the place. he began to straighten it out a bit, so that he could find the stuff he actually wanted, when he came across a picture of him and Nina. it was crumpled up and torn a bit. He threw it into the trash can. 'how did that get here?' he wondered to himself, as he continued cleaning. He found an empty box and started to throw some stuff into it. Chloe came into his office.  
  
"Tony I need authorization codes for--"he cut her off.  
  
"I don't work here anymore, Chloe." She stepped further into the office.  
  
"what do you mean?"  
  
"Chappelle fired me." She quickly turned and left. He felt kind of sorry for her. everyone at CTU was always mean to her, and she was always the last person to find out stuff. He threw in a picture of him and Michelle at their wedding. He was going to miss this job. ************************************************************************  
  
Michelle got out of the car and started towards the main building. Nobody else was in the garage. Her footsteps echoed loudly. She was always freaked out about being in there alone. And what made it worse is the fact that Geri had dropped her off at the entrance to the garage. It was pretty big. Suddenly she stopped. She could see clearly blood all over the place. she screamed loudly. No one came. She turned around to run away, and saw Tony's body in front of her, covered in blood. She didn't even scream, this time, just fell to the floor. she had been lying there for five minutes when Chappelle came out of the building and saw her on the ground.  
  
"Michelle?!" he turned her on to her back. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.  
  
"please state your emergency" the tired female voice said when she answered.  
  
"one of my co-workers fainted or something. She's unconscious."  
  
"I'll send an ambulance. Do you know CPR?" he knelt down next to her.  
  
"yeah."  
  
"okay, just resuscitate her. I have your location. Don't worry." She hung up. he dialed Tony's number.  
  
"Almeida" he answered, out of habit  
  
"Tony Michelle's unconscious." There was a brief pause on the other end.  
  
"what? Where?"  
  
"in the garage."  
  
"I'll be right there." Tony hung up. Chappelle started to resuscitate her. ************************************************************************  
  
Chase looked out the window of the plane he was on. He had had to cut his vacation short, due to the fact that he was now the director of CTU. Kim was still in L.A. he missed her, but she had been injured too badly when she had stood in for another agent to come with him. it had been about a 2 weeks after the virus, and she decided that she wanted to be field ops. So when his new partner got sick, she took his place for a day. he had his headphones on and was listening to her favorite CD, Palm Trees and Power Lines. Sugarcult was her favorite band. She didn't really seem like the punk rock type, but she was. he hadn't spoken to her in three weeks, since she had come home from the hospital. And even that was over the phone. he changed the song to one that fit his mood better.  
  
Leaving all, the fights and all, summer's getting colder, Drive all night to hold you tight, back to California. ************************************************************************ 


	6. Michelle's hospital stay part 2

A/N- sorry it's taking me a while to update, I have all these projects I need to finish at school, upcoming graduation, the play, and writer's block. Anyways for those of you who were wondering, Chappelle gave Michelle CPR because when she hit her head she hit it pretty hard, stopped breathing. I had a very blonde day that day and forgot to mention it, sorry! Keep reviewing!   
  
Tony ran to the garage, leaving everything in his office. This was the second time today, and he was really worried about her. the whole world seemed to blur around him, and his only focus at that point was getting to his wife. When he entered the garage, there was an EMT loading her on to a stretcher. He rushed over and took her hand. She was slightly conscious.  
  
"Michelle, are you okay?" he asked. She mumbled something before closing her eyes. They slammed the doors cruelly in his face. Chappelle was standing there speechless. Tony ran over to his SUV, and got in, ignoring Chappelle. He started up the car and sped off.   
  
Kim woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She groggily reached over and picked it up.  
  
"hello?"  
  
"Kim, it's Chase. I'll be home in a few hours. How are you doing?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up straight.  
  
"I'm fine." She yawned. "how are you"  
  
"can't complain" he answered. "are you back at work yet?"  
  
"no." she rolled on to her side, too exhausted to get out of bed.  
  
"did I wake you up?"  
  
"yes."  
  
"sorry." She could hear a trace of guilt in his voice.  
  
"it's okay. I'm going back to sleep now. love you."  
  
"I love you too. bye." She hung up the phone and went back to sleep. A few hours later, she heard the door open. She opened her eyes and having completely forgotten about her conversation with Chase, began to panic. He opened the door to the bedroom.  
  
"hi honey." He said softly, sitting down next to her.  
  
"hey." His hand was out of the brace it had been in before. He ran his fingers through her hair. "how was your trip?"  
  
"it was great." He laid down next to her. She snuggled close to him, grateful that he was finally home. "how are you feeling?" he asked, running his hand along the scar on her back.  
  
"fine. "she closed her eyes. "I really missed you." she mumbled, half asleep.  
  
"I missed you too." she didn't answer. She had fallen asleep.   
  
Tony sped after the ambulance, not caring that he was probably going to get a ticket. His main goal was getting to his wife. His phone began to ring. He checked to see who was calling. It was Chappelle. He ignored it. 15 minutes later, he parked the car in front of the hospital. He got out. he walked quickly to the door of the ER. The automatic doors opened. He went straight to the front desk.  
  
"may I help you?" the tired looking receptionist asked.  
  
"yeah, I'm here to see my wife, Michelle Dessler." She looked down at her chart.  
  
"she was just admitted, and is being seen by a doctor. Take a seat, and I'll call you when you can go in to see her." he went over to an empty seat next to a sleeping man. He felt like sleeping, himself, he was so tired. It was pretty early in the morning. He fidgeted with his wedding band. If something bad had happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He leaned back in the chair, resting his head against the wall. Drowsiness was beginning to overcome him. he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. He snapped awake a few minutes later.  
  
"Mr. Almeida?" the receptionist called out. he rubbed his eyes and stood up.  
  
"yeah?"  
  
"you can go in to see your wife now"  
  
"thank you." he followed a doctor into the small, but crowded emergency room. It was a lot noisier in here than in the waiting room. The doctor showed him where Michelle was before leaving. She was awake.  
  
"Tony. You're alive."  
  
"of course I'm alive." He said, slightly confused. She was probably just delirious, but he felt that it was more.  
  
"I-I saw you. you were dead. In the garage." He hugged her.  
  
"it's okay Michelle, I'm fine. Are you okay?" he asked, pulling away.  
  
"I think so." She said. The doctor came in again.  
  
"Mr. Almeida, can I speak to you?"  
  
"sure." He got up and went just outside the makeshift room.  
  
"Mr. Almeida, this isn't the first time this has happened. Your wife appears delirious. But it has been a number of weeks since the last time she was here. We are going to put her under evaluation, just to see what's going on. that is, if it is okay with you?" Tony looked back at Michelle, she seemed so helpless. he thought about it for a minute.  
  
"okay." he said at last.  
  
"wonderful. We'll begin evaluating her as soon as she is 100% better, which will have to be in few days, because she suffered some head trauma and other various injuries." Tony nodded. He went back to Michelle.  
  
"what did he say?" she asked.  
  
"you're going to have to be evaluated."  
  
"Tony, I am not insane, I know what I saw!" she yelled.  
  
"sshh, it's going to be fine, honey."  
  
"NO!" she yelled, ripping out her I.V. from her arm. She jumped out of her bed. He tried to force her back. "I...AM.. NOT..INSANE!" she screamed, trying to run. Two doctors and a nurse came running to see what was the problem.  
  
"get a sedative!" one of the doctors said, while Tony tried to restrain Michelle. She struggled against him, while the nurse prepared a syringe. She jabbed Michelle in the shoulder and squeezed the medicine into Michelle. Michelle collapsed limply into Tony's arms. He lifted her back on to the stretcher, where the doctor took care of her bleeding arm. Tony kissed her goodbye and walked quickly out of the emergency room, unable to bear looking at Michelle any longer. It hurt too much to have seen her deteriorate. He got into his car, and started crying. He sat there for a few minutes, trying to get a grip before driving off. Halfway home, he stopped at a 24 hour donut shop. When he was a child, kids always made fun of him. so, he turned to food whenever he was sad. Now he rarely did it, only when something big happened. This was one of those times. He went inside and ordered a dozen glazed. He paid and went back to the car, sitting inside and eating the whole box. He felt a bit better. He started back home. He opened the garage door and parked his car. he went into the empty, dark house. He went upstairs to his and Michelle's bedrooms. He collapsed on the bed, too tired to do anything.  
  
keep reviewing! 


	7. 7: Where's Chapelle?

A/N- okay...its been over a year...my excuse is laziness and school...anyways, once again, don't own 24 or the characters…but if someone wants to sell to me, I will gladly accept the offer…well, I wont keep you waiting any longer…here it is!

There was an incessant beeping noise, and a bright light interfering with Tony's dream. He opened his eyes and rolled over, expecting to bump into a sleepy Michelle, but he only found empty space. He sighed, and sat up. Why did this have to happen to her? He got out of bed and went downstairs to make himself some breakfast. If it had been a normal morning, usually there would be smoke gushing from the kitchen, and Michelle would be frantically fanning it out the window. But, of course, there was nothing there. He sighed and got the box of Frosted Flakes (he had never outgrown his love for sweetened cereal) and some milk and made himself a bowl of cereal. As he began to eat, the phone rang. Muttering curses under his breath, he went over to get it.

"Hello?"

"Tony, its Jack. How's Michelle doing?"

"She has some head injuries. And as soon as that's cleared up, they're going to begin evaluating her."

"Good. Um, listen, Chappelle left a note…Apparently he's gone. Which means you can have your job back."

"What about Chase?"

"Chase said that he wants you to have your job back." Tony thought about this for a second. It didn't seem like Chappelle at all.

"When you say 'he's gone'…do you mean that like, he's taking an extended vacation gone, or he's dead gone?"

"We're not quite sure yet." This was very strange.

"I'm going to head over to his place and check it out."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." He hung up the phone; still holding on to it as he wondered what made Chappelle change his mind.

"Hello, Ms.Dessler, I'm Dr.Fiorentini." Michelle looked up from her breakfast, and simply acknowledged her with a weak smile. "I'm going to be running a few tests on you today. Most of them are going to involve a lot of inkblots."

"You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

"Of course not. What you're experiencing is most likely severe post-traumatic stress disorder, but we just want to check to make sure."

"Do you know if my husband has been here today?"

"I don't think he has yet. Visiting hours don't start until 10, so I assume he should be here then."

"Okay."

"Now, let's begin…"

ONE HOUR LATER

"Okay, that's it for now I'll be back later, though." Dr.Fiorentini smiled at Michelle as she got up to leave.

"Um, Dr.Fiorentini?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what it is yet?" Dr.Fiorentini stopped.

"I'm still sticking with my prognosis. There's nothing that possibly could have caused you go 'go insane' as people call it…But I still need to run some more tests. Hospital protocol."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Tony entered the house with a twist of the doorknob. After about half an hour of just standing there, he got fed up. Something didn't feel right as he entered. The house seemed oddly cold. He just assumed it was air conditioning. But still, something felt odd.

"Ryan?" He called out, going up the stairs. And then he saw it. He wanted to scream but, couldn't at the same time. He just stood there, gaping for about 2 minutes before bolting out of there. He jumped into his car and went full speed down the high way.

"Thanks dad." Kim hung up the phone. "Dad just called Michelle at the hospital. The prognosis is severe post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I do not blame her. If I had been in that hotel, I would be beyond nuts right now." Kim glared at him. "Not like Michelle is nuts. I'm just saying…"

"I know. I'm so glad that she's going to be okay though." She went over and sat on the arm of the chair Chase was sitting in. He slid an arm around her, and pulled her into his lap, beginning to kiss her. Suddenly the phone rang. He curse loudly, causing Kim to giggle. He reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" He listened for a second. "What!" His eyes widened in shock. "Oh my..How? When?"

"What is it?" Kim asked, her gaze full of concern. She stroked his face as he continued to listen.

"Okay, I'll be right there…" He hung up and nudged Kim so that she would get off of his lap. "Something bad's happened..I need to get to CTU right now"

Tony raced through the hospital, sticking a bright yellow visitor's badge tohis shirt as he did. Finally he reached Michelle's room.

"Tony..What happened? Why are you running?"

"Michelle…" He panted. "Michelle… Chappelle's dead."

review!


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